Catastrophe
by Theoretically Dead
Summary: ..-:.It's been 13 years too long, and it's time to bust out and take the real world by storm. Regret the day you created the Pride, regret the day you made us as perfect as we are. See, we're not helpless kittens anymore. We're fierce hunters.:-.. Collab.
1. Prologue

**Catastrophe**

...

_Feel the wind tousling your hair, leap into the sky, don't ever be chained, and run as you are meant to._

..-:-..-:-..

...

James

"**Run faster!"** _This &*#%ing IS fast. _I'm sprinting, achieving speeds they can only DrEaM of.

Here's an idea. How about I just stop, just refuse to finish the maze?

_Of course, that'd be an amazing idea, an amazing way to defy them, if it weren't for the pain. It's always there, of course._

Won't it ever eNd?

...

_Was that wall there before? Why can't I stop? Oh %&#* I smell the sleeping drugs._

You've taken away my family, my pRiDe, my love. I have no more energy, you've made me mute and I have never known normal. You've bound my hands and feet so I cannot fight, not that I have the strength to. But why won't you let me RuN?

_I'll tell you why, it's because I'd be killed in the real world. Have they? Have they managed to escape, and survive?_

You cannot take my will to **live.**

_Sometimes I hear them calling to me to join them. But they're just the dreams of a suicidally-inclined, insane little girl who isn't even human._

But hey, if you were trapped here, you'd be all of those things too. Not necessarily little and a girl, but the other things.

_ Won't you help me? _

**…****No. You're laughing.** And believe me, the Pride will be ANGRY when they see what you've done to the youngest member.

They'll **tEaR yOu ApArT** and for once, _I'll_ be the one laughing.

...

He he. We'll win.

** Hey people reading this! You may have found that^^ very confusing. It's a prologue, it's meant to be confusing. Not saying the character's crazy though. Just tortured and stuff. I know it's a little harder to read things when they're all centered like this, but I promise you it's just for the prologue's epicness. The actual story will be written normally so it's easier to read.  
**

**So, this prologue was written by me; Sara, and sponsored by Ally (because she was ranting over the phone as I typed it up and that somehow is sponsoring.)So, YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO!**

**REVIEW OR DIE! XoXoTriggerhappy44**


	2. Not Okay

**Catastrophe**

...

_Feel the wind tousling your hair, leap into the sky, don't ever be chained, and run as you are meant to._

..-:-..-:-..

...

James

The whitecoats don't know I'm awake. Truth be told, I haven't slept normally in what I think is around 5 weeks. Normal for me is not your normal. You're a lucky human, and the worst thing is, you don't even know it. You have your own little life. You don't know.

Or do you? Are you thankful for the eight, nine hours you get of sleep every night? Do you realize how lucky you are to be able to relax in a soft bed and sleep, blissfully forget everything for a night at a time?

Never mind my ranting. You don't. You never will understand. And I will never sleep more than three hours at a time. I take catnaps. I was designed that way. Sleeping an hour, waking up and watching for some time. At least, that's what I do when I'm not being tortured. What I wouldn't give to sleep like a human. Yeah. More on that later. And be quiet, will you? I'm trying to tell my story.

The whitecoats are idiotically unaware. There are two. I recognize one. The other must be new. Good. He might give me a break. The newbies are usually more gentle.

I lie still on the floor of my cage. Yes, _cage!_ Didn't I tell you to stop interrupting? I am in a cage because I am violent, restless, very, very irritated and unlucky enough to have been stabbed with a needle and some genes when I was a tiny baby.

I am also very lonely. I have been alone for about 5 weeks. But I pretend I am okay. Anything I can do to confuse the whitecoats and their experiments, I do. That's just how I roll.

I listen to the whitecoats speak. It appears the new one is on a tour. I then, am just another sight to see on the trip. Pissed, I whirl around and refuse to look at the two men.

"This is Panthera Onca. She is 13 years, 7 months and 6 days old. We used to have eight feline hybrids in our collection, but Onca here is the last one."

First I feel rage. To be referred to in the way I am. My name is not Onca. I am _James._ Then interest, as I discover how old I am. Then more anger, to be part of a collection. Like I'm not alive. Then, dead, pure fear. By "the last one" … can… is it… Am I the last one alive? No. It is not possible. How can I, the youngest and weakest of the pride, be the survivor? No. No. They would never go down without a fight. Would they?

Would they?

* * *

I've fallen into a rhythm. Shiver, growl, shiver, curl into ball. Cry. Shiver, sleep fitfully. Scream at the ceiling, barely visible even with my vision. Try to drown out the never-ending hum of the ceiling-fans. Idiots. Don't they realize the air-conditioning is unnecessary? Shiver.

With more than enough time on my hands, I think. Wonder. Speculate, use whatever fancy word you care to use.

What do the whitecoats mean? How can I be the last one?

What is so special about little, kitty James?

I'm not stubborn like Frost, or like Robin. I'm not as caring as Hayley. I'm not strong, like the boys. I can't knock people unconscious like my family.

Weep. Shiver. A feeling I can't identify.

Time passes. Passes me by. Little, kitty James.

I can't defy, can't be strong without the Pride.

* * *

I know I am dreaming, but I pretend I don't. It is a bittersweet dream, because it is a true memory. It is a terrifying memory.

It is sweet because my family is in it.

_We don't know much about this new test, just that the whitecoats have been planning it for weeks, and they are very excited to see how it will turn out._

_ Naturally, this makes the older members of the pride very nervous. I don't pay much attention, too concerned with the way my hair whaps me in the face when I turn my head too suddenly. One of the whitecoats had become annoyed with my long braid, and she hacked it off, leaving my once-beautiful hair to bounce mockingly above my shoulders._

_Frost throws herself at the metal bars as the whitecoats drag Alex out of his cage._

_By now, Hayley's been alerted to the chaos, and she watches with wide blue eyes as Alex fights. He struggles valiantly, and for a moment I think he will win._

_ He wil__l win, and the whitecoats will cower in fear, and he'll unlock all our cages, and we will walk out of the school, hand in hand, and run. We'll run until we are far, far. And we can live in a big tree, with a pond and tall, swaying reeds. We'll sleep in hammocks, and hunt squirrels. _

_ But you see how naïve I was? The whitecoats stab Alex with a needle. Hinges protest ominously as the door of my cage is thrown back, and I leap into the corner, but rough hands grab me. I have just enough time to feel Ruin's fingers clutching at mine, and to see Alex slumped on the tile floor before I too, am put to sleep. Our fear scent is overpowering._

* * *

_The memory of the test is blurry. Blurry, because I have tried to forget it. The dreadful feeling of falling, with the wind rushing past. _

_We dropped from little heights at first. Little, as in 3 meters. 4 meters. Higher. _

_The whitecoats wanted to see if we would land on our feet. If we would survive. _

_We did. But not until I had screamed my throat raw, until my palms were bloody from sharp nails as I clenched my hands in fear. _

It took us two long months to recover. We didn't take kindly to being tossed off of things. Jumping was okay. Running was okay. Falling was okay, landing was okay. But being thrown was not okay.

And then, being separated, shipped off to different schools?

That was definitely not okay.

**50 points and a hug if you can guess what kind of mutants they are.**

**Review!**

**XoXo Triggerhappy44**


	3. Together, But Apart

**Heyy guys. My turn to update! :D This is Ally, just so you know. Anyways, thanks to those who reviewed the last two chapters. Enjoyy 3**

_Frost's POV_

"Experiment 1, you're wanted for testing. Let's go!"

I couldn't help but let out a low hiss at the whitecoat's words. Alex was not a _number. _And as much as the whitecoats tried to convince their consciences, he wasn't an experiment, either.

Regardless, he got up- though he couldn't stand up straight, due to the size of the cages we were in- and headed to the cage's door. I couldn't help but notice Hailey, Robyn, and Rewen subtly moving to the back of the cage.

I knew they weren't scared, it was simply a habit. If the whitecoats thought one of us was trying to escape, we received an electric shock from the thick metal anklets we all wore.

You could tell how much I hated this place by the fresh burns around mine.

Speaking of which, I crept foreword, too quiet for the whitecoats to hear me. There were only two today- usually they brought three or four when they were picking one of us up, considering our superior reflexes and strength.

_Fatal mistake, _I thought absent-mindedly.

Alex was at the door now, waiting for the whitecoats to let him out. Neither seemed to have noticed my advances. Alex didn't react, though I knew his hearing was sharp enough to pick up even _my_ footfalls.

Finally, they got the cage door unlocked. The whitecoat stepped back to let Alex out…

And I pounced.

Along with other abilities, our legs were enhanced in a way that made us fantastic jumpers. Not necessarily straight up, but certainly forewords.

Unfortunately, the two whitecoats who were here were either used to my escape attempts or had been warned by someone who was. The taller one- a male with cropped brown hair- reached to the wall behind him and, almost lazily, hit a button.

The pain was instantaneous. It shot up from my ankle to make it seem like I was being burned alive, though only the skin around the anklet would show the marks later. I faltered, still in mid-air, and lost my balance. I came crashing down, landing in a heap.

I wasn't much of a crier. I couldn't remember the last time I'd shed a tear. Mostly I just swore a lot or dug my claws- yes, I did say _claws- _into my palms, usually drawing blood.

I bit hard on my lip and let my claws dig into my hands. It didn't do much for the pain, but it was a decent distraction.

I heard Alex let out a feral snarl, though I knew he wouldn't attack anyone. It wasn't that he didn't care about me; it was more that he was smarter than I was. _He _didn't go around begging to be electrocuted, after all.

Robyn and Hailey were at my side almost the moment I hit the ground. Rewen was glaring at them in a way that said _'I dare you to try that a second time.' _

If you couldn't tell, we were close. Hurting one member of the Pride was like hurting all of us.

It also meant that if _you_ hurt one of _us_, then _all_ of us would hurt _you. _

The whitecoats had locked the cage now, and were escorting Alex out of the room. He glanced back at me. His eyes said '_I'm sorry.' _

I knew he would apologize profusely when he got back- for not protecting me, for letting the whitecoats have their way. It wasn't his fault, he was just like that.

"You okay?" Robyn asked once they were gone. "No swearing this time, I noticed." She smiled at me.

"I'm fine, thanks." Despite what I said, it still hurt. A lot. As I usually did after any one of us got hurt, I focused until I could simply blink and switch into what I called 'Aura Vision'.

I could see people's auras, but only when I wanted to. Auras tended to change whenever something was seriously wrong- or even when the person was feeling any emotion very strongly- so I always checked for any permanent damage after tests or electrocutions.

As usual, I gave off a soft purple glow. There were areas of white and lavender- as usual- but nothing out of the ordinary. I sighed with relief before turning back to the other members of the Pride.

"Everything in working order?" Rewen always found it amusing when I checked people's auras, mostly because soon after I'd discovered the power, everyone had thought I was crazy for a little while.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah, thanks _so much _for your concern."

He smirked. "Anytime, Frost."

-(_Page break)-_

"Rock, paper, what?" I frowned at Alex, clearly confused.

"Rock, paper, scissors. It's a game that humans play when they have to decide things." The whitecoats, apparently, had played this game when they argued over who had to test Alex's reflexes today. They'd been kicked in the face before.

"Sounds fun! Teach us how?" Hailey asked sweetly.

Alex taught us the rules of the game, and got me to help him demonstrate. I chose rock, while he chose paper.

"See? I win, because paper beats rock." He smiled triumphantly at me.

"Paper beats rock? How does paper beat rock? Does it somehow magically wrap around the rock, rendering it immobile? If that's true, then why doesn't it do the same for scissors? Heck, why doesn't paper _rule the world _if it has that kind of power?" I ranted like that sometimes. I tended to over-think things… a lot.

"Frost, it's just how the game works." Alex sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

I punched him in the shoulder with the already-made fist that had represented my rock.

"Hey!" He glared at me, looking about ready to punch me back. "What was that for?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought paper would protect you!"

**I thought of that scene at the end and just had to include it, haha. I know this is **_**way **_**less angsty than what's going on with James, but that's just how stuff it at the moment. **

**So, how'd you like it? Me and Sara and the others all have different styles of writing, so it might be a bit weird at first. Well, thanks for reading, don't forget to review!**

**~Ally**

**EDIT: Sorry, I didn't realize killed my line break. So, it's fixed now (I hope). Sorry for the confusion!**


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